Add your thoughts using the KWL approach. Thinking about Game Mechanics, Games-Based Learning or gamification.....
K = What do you know?
I know that games are fun and that they can be used with our students to engage them in learning. Students can engage with learning through gamefication and games based learning and these two different forms can help marry enjoyment with learning.
W = What do you want to learn?
I want to learn the difference between gameification and games based learning. I also want to know how to create appropriate games for my classroom and students. I would like to learn how to use the technology with ease and make learning fun and enjoyable!
L = What have you learned? (we'll do this last one later)
I have learnt what gamification is! I have learnt that I already do some of this in my teaching and learning programs. I have learnt that there is still a lot more I could do to improve in this area. I have learnt that it is mainly about redesigning the way it is delivered, adding a fun element to it, using narratives or themes, thinking about the emotion behind the method and what the learner experiences. There are many ways content can be learnt and behaviours can be changed through the use of gamification.
Reflection
Add your thoughts here and also add to the KWL notes above, where appropriate.
Humans and games:
As humans we have all played games! As humans we enjoy games because they are fun. Games come in many forms such as sports, playground, card, board games, role playing, cultural and digital.
Engagement:
The point of using games as an educational device is that of engagement. It can be a way of keeping the audiences attention and keeping people involved. It is sometimes useful to use something familiar for the audience (eg. a well known theme / intertextuality). Humans typically have a 'no pain no gain' mentality which sometimes translates to the fact that we as humans enjoy the struggles and challenges given to us. We find the challenging tasks worthwhile and fun, for a number of reasons.
More Games:
Action games, adventure games, fighting games, puzzle games, role playing games, simulation games, sports games, strategy games, stories and narratives.
Outcomes and feedback:
With digital games, the computer tends to take care of the boring rules and details and allows for smoother process. Computers also enhance the 'play experience' which is what people want out of the experience.
Nicole Lazzaro:
What is fun? What makes games fun?
1. Hard fun (the winning / frustration / fear / scores)
2. Easy fun (exploration / role playing / curiosity)
3. Serious fun (Getting smarter / making a difference )
4. People fun (amusement / laughter / engaging with each other)
Things are more fun when they are challenging! Use basketball as an example. If the hoop was too low the fun is taken out.
Design games that go with what you want to achieve!
The fun theory:
making it fun to do! Seatbelts on and only then does the in car video and audio system work) The bottle bank arcade machine (Machine that collects points as you enter rubbish)
Good teacher:
Relaxed and fun, takes on new challenges, gives students choice, taking students out of comfort zones, fun, making lessons fun that would otherwise be boring.
Gamification:
The design and application of game elements and game mechanics to normally non-gaming activities.
i.e the reward chart (agreed awards, achievements, targets, clear sense of progression)
Four square (mobile app, check in to places, earn badges, school sporting carnivals, classroom merits, pockets0
Games Based Learning:
Using games in learning (eg) custom made educational games
Elements:
Games
Challenges
Points
Collections
Achievements
Rewards
Social Graph
Level 2
Where do I start?
Identify some learning outcomes that you will be visiting with your students in upcoming lessons. Note down here some ways they might benefit from gamification.
Students can benefit from gamification as it can drive their learning and it can change their behavior.
I was considering a whole school approach to the way the students interact with cultural events and world knowledge (a goal of our students here is to become more worldly and move their thoughts, opinions and understanding outside of their immediate world of where they have grown up). So using gamification as an access point for students to engage with cultural events, shows, music, festivals, tourist spots, reading about the world, attending philosophy club etc could really be redesigned into gamification to excite them and get them onboard. I think they could benefit from it as they would 'play it like a game' and have fun whilst learning about the arts, the world, politics. It could also change their behavior in that they start talking about things from around the world.
In the classroom my students are working on Australian Scripts and performing segments of it and writing an essay. They could benefit from gamification with both the research, performance work and written work. Engaging with the content in a fun and thematic way could help them meet milestones. Perhaps a reward system could also be helpful for this - especially with getting through their study guide readings and activities.
Observe and reflect
After playing a game what are your personal thoughts about the design and elements involved and how any of these could help you in thinking about doing the same in a learning activity?
Everybody loves to have a reward or something to work towards. If the game is clear and consistent then it can be very enjoyable. My games are mostly practical games (being a drama teacher) but I would love to make some app style games. I think this takes the boring bits out of the instruction and then students can play on their own to extend themselves or with the members of the class.
Level 3
Premiers Reading Challenge Reflection
Write your thoughts here and or print a rubric and circle the appropriate areas you notice as you review the rules of this gamified experience. (feel free to scan or photograph and upload your rubic to this page.)
This is an effective gamified experience that encourages students to engage with reading and it encourages them to change their behavior (becoming life long readers). This improves literacy and interest in reading as a hobby which will underpin their skills in reading and writing across other academic challenges in schooling and in life. It contained a goal, rules and simple certificate based rewards. It could be improved through thematic engagement and ongoing feedback. It could even branch out into skill development for bonus points for grammar and general literacy.
The game dynamics:
Learning outcomes evident (5)
Narrative (3) wasn't the main focus but it did show relevance to a player's life.
Pregression (5) Designed well that improving their consistency with reading is encouraged and there is opportunity for the student to achieve more certificates the more they do. It also gives the students the opportunity to try again even if they have missed a year of the challenge. (They can still obtain the 4th year certificate / the 7th year certificate / medal even if they miss a year and get back on the challenge later on).
Emotion (4)
Relationships (2)
Game Mechanics: (4)
Game Components: (1)
Zombie Learning Reflection
Write your thoughts here and or print a rubric and circle the appropriate areas you notice as you review the rules of this gamified experience.
(feel free to scan or photograph and upload your rubic to this page.)
This is a good concept as it is thematically driven and is a way to interest the students. They enter another world and went further with gamification. It had ongoing activities, goals, feedback and story development. This is an immersive experience that students will want to be involved in outside of the classroom context. They will therefore continue to learn outside of the teacher instructed lessons.
You Try/ A final reflection
Add your finished plan here as an upload file or as text you have cut and pasted into the wiki. We would love to give you feedback to help you get started. (remember it does not need be perfect, it is a first attempt). Alternatively it can be emailed to us instead.
Drama Lesson Outcomes:
Review of Stage 5 Core Content: Constantin Stanislavski
Focus on essential glossary terms, historical context, realism as a form, the what, the how, they why of the Stanislavski System.
Description of Audience: Year 10 students who love acting but enjoy the theory less.
Time Constraints: 1 Lesson for revision before the essay examination.Game Elements:Students team in pairs
Teacher hosts interactive quiz game using the ipad for images and sound effects Students can earn ‘Drama Cash’ which can be later redeemed (throughout the year) for tickets at the school plays and events. Questions are revision based and cover content studied in class and in the flipped learning environment Opportunity for students to gain bonus points along the way – they may earn extra coins for delivering answers in a practical / performance method
Fun check: Oscars theme Drama cash and coins with our drama practitioners on the front (these also act as an educational tool) This is hard fun. There are challenges and opportunities for mastery, reward and accomplishment. There is also an element of easy fun – as the students will enjoy interacting with each other and can take the option of role playing and being creative with some answers.
Have you filled in the evaluation? Have you found the bonus level content?
A helpful course. I am glad that I have undertaken this course as it has allowed me to think more about how I deliver content, get students to engage with that content and how I can change behaviours through the chance of progression. I will use the template for measuring and applying gamifiication to the classroom. The basic game thinking planning template is also helpful. I think it would be helpful to include some more examples along the way. I felt I needed to see more examples of how games are used in the class. Perhaps even a video on how some people are using gamification in their lessons (besides the ones already provided.) Thank you for the course. I will now put it into action! Jade
It looks like you have extracted some useful elements for yourself from all the course content and that you have some ideas about how to apply that learning to your teaching which is fabulous. I am happy to hear the templates will help going forward to modify some of the activities that students do not find as 'fun'.
Badges & Rewards
Level 1
KWL (Levels 1 and 3)
Add your thoughts using the KWL approach. Thinking about Game Mechanics, Games-Based Learning or gamification.....K = What do you know?
I know that games are fun and that they can be used with our students to engage them in learning. Students can engage with learning through gamefication and games based learning and these two different forms can help marry enjoyment with learning.
W = What do you want to learn?
I want to learn the difference between gameification and games based learning. I also want to know how to create appropriate games for my classroom and students. I would like to learn how to use the technology with ease and make learning fun and enjoyable!
L = What have you learned? (we'll do this last one later)
I have learnt what gamification is! I have learnt that I already do some of this in my teaching and learning programs. I have learnt that there is still a lot more I could do to improve in this area. I have learnt that it is mainly about redesigning the way it is delivered, adding a fun element to it, using narratives or themes, thinking about the emotion behind the method and what the learner experiences. There are many ways content can be learnt and behaviours can be changed through the use of gamification.
Reflection
Add your thoughts here and also add to the KWL notes above, where appropriate.Humans and games:
As humans we have all played games! As humans we enjoy games because they are fun. Games come in many forms such as sports, playground, card, board games, role playing, cultural and digital.
Engagement:
The point of using games as an educational device is that of engagement. It can be a way of keeping the audiences attention and keeping people involved. It is sometimes useful to use something familiar for the audience (eg. a well known theme / intertextuality). Humans typically have a 'no pain no gain' mentality which sometimes translates to the fact that we as humans enjoy the struggles and challenges given to us. We find the challenging tasks worthwhile and fun, for a number of reasons.
More Games:
Action games, adventure games, fighting games, puzzle games, role playing games, simulation games, sports games, strategy games, stories and narratives.
Outcomes and feedback:
With digital games, the computer tends to take care of the boring rules and details and allows for smoother process. Computers also enhance the 'play experience' which is what people want out of the experience.
Nicole Lazzaro:
What is fun? What makes games fun?
1. Hard fun (the winning / frustration / fear / scores)
2. Easy fun (exploration / role playing / curiosity)
3. Serious fun (Getting smarter / making a difference )
4. People fun (amusement / laughter / engaging with each other)
Things are more fun when they are challenging! Use basketball as an example. If the hoop was too low the fun is taken out.
Design games that go with what you want to achieve!
The fun theory:
making it fun to do! Seatbelts on and only then does the in car video and audio system work) The bottle bank arcade machine (Machine that collects points as you enter rubbish)
Good teacher:
Relaxed and fun, takes on new challenges, gives students choice, taking students out of comfort zones, fun, making lessons fun that would otherwise be boring.
Gamification:
The design and application of game elements and game mechanics to normally non-gaming activities.
i.e the reward chart (agreed awards, achievements, targets, clear sense of progression)
Four square (mobile app, check in to places, earn badges, school sporting carnivals, classroom merits, pockets0
Games Based Learning:
Using games in learning (eg) custom made educational games
Elements:
Games
Challenges
Points
Collections
Achievements
Rewards
Social Graph
Level 2
Where do I start?
Identify some learning outcomes that you will be visiting with your students in upcoming lessons. Note down here some ways they might benefit from gamification.Students can benefit from gamification as it can drive their learning and it can change their behavior.
I was considering a whole school approach to the way the students interact with cultural events and world knowledge (a goal of our students here is to become more worldly and move their thoughts, opinions and understanding outside of their immediate world of where they have grown up). So using gamification as an access point for students to engage with cultural events, shows, music, festivals, tourist spots, reading about the world, attending philosophy club etc could really be redesigned into gamification to excite them and get them onboard. I think they could benefit from it as they would 'play it like a game' and have fun whilst learning about the arts, the world, politics. It could also change their behavior in that they start talking about things from around the world.
In the classroom my students are working on Australian Scripts and performing segments of it and writing an essay. They could benefit from gamification with both the research, performance work and written work. Engaging with the content in a fun and thematic way could help them meet milestones. Perhaps a reward system could also be helpful for this - especially with getting through their study guide readings and activities.
Observe and reflect
After playing a game what are your personal thoughts about the design and elements involved and how any of these could help you in thinking about doing the same in a learning activity?
Everybody loves to have a reward or something to work towards. If the game is clear and consistent then it can be very enjoyable. My games are mostly practical games (being a drama teacher) but I would love to make some app style games. I think this takes the boring bits out of the instruction and then students can play on their own to extend themselves or with the members of the class.
Level 3
Premiers Reading Challenge Reflection
Write your thoughts here and or print a rubric and circle the appropriate areas you notice as you review the rules of this gamified experience. (feel free to scan or photograph and upload your rubic to this page.)This is an effective gamified experience that encourages students to engage with reading and it encourages them to change their behavior (becoming life long readers). This improves literacy and interest in reading as a hobby which will underpin their skills in reading and writing across other academic challenges in schooling and in life. It contained a goal, rules and simple certificate based rewards. It could be improved through thematic engagement and ongoing feedback. It could even branch out into skill development for bonus points for grammar and general literacy.
The game dynamics:
Learning outcomes evident (5)
Narrative (3) wasn't the main focus but it did show relevance to a player's life.
Pregression (5) Designed well that improving their consistency with reading is encouraged and there is opportunity for the student to achieve more certificates the more they do. It also gives the students the opportunity to try again even if they have missed a year of the challenge. (They can still obtain the 4th year certificate / the 7th year certificate / medal even if they miss a year and get back on the challenge later on).
Emotion (4)
Relationships (2)
Game Mechanics: (4)
Game Components: (1)
Zombie Learning Reflection
Write your thoughts here and or print a rubric and circle the appropriate areas you notice as you review the rules of this gamified experience.(feel free to scan or photograph and upload your rubic to this page.)
This is a good concept as it is thematically driven and is a way to interest the students. They enter another world and went further with gamification. It had ongoing activities, goals, feedback and story development. This is an immersive experience that students will want to be involved in outside of the classroom context. They will therefore continue to learn outside of the teacher instructed lessons.
You Try/ A final reflection
Add your finished plan here as an upload file or as text you have cut and pasted into the wiki. We would love to give you feedback to help you get started. (remember it does not need be perfect, it is a first attempt). Alternatively it can be emailed to us instead.Drama Lesson Outcomes:
Review of Stage 5 Core Content: Constantin Stanislavski
Focus on essential glossary terms, historical context, realism as a form, the what, the how, they why of the Stanislavski System.
Description of Audience: Year 10 students who love acting but enjoy the theory less.
Time Constraints: 1 Lesson for revision before the essay examination.Game Elements:Students team in pairs
Teacher hosts interactive quiz game using the ipad for images and sound effects
Students can earn ‘Drama Cash’ which can be later redeemed (throughout the year) for tickets at the school plays and events.
Questions are revision based and cover content studied in class and in the flipped learning environment
Opportunity for students to gain bonus points along the way – they may earn extra coins for delivering answers in a practical / performance method
Fun check:
Oscars theme
Drama cash and coins with our drama practitioners on the front (these also act as an educational tool)
This is hard fun. There are challenges and opportunities for mastery, reward and accomplishment. There is also an element of easy fun – as the students will enjoy interacting with each other and can take the option of role playing and being creative with some answers.
Have you filled in the evaluation? Have you found the bonus level content?
A helpful course. I am glad that I have undertaken this course as it has allowed me to think more about how I deliver content, get students to engage with that content and how I can change behaviours through the chance of progression. I will use the template for measuring and applying gamifiication to the classroom. The basic game thinking planning template is also helpful. I think it would be helpful to include some more examples along the way. I felt I needed to see more examples of how games are used in the class. Perhaps even a video on how some people are using gamification in their lessons (besides the ones already provided.) Thank you for the course. I will now put it into action! Jade
It looks like you have extracted some useful elements for yourself from all the course content and that you have some ideas about how to apply that learning to your teaching which is fabulous. I am happy to hear the templates will help going forward to modify some of the activities that students do not find as 'fun'.